Maxing Out
Author: Colette Dowling
List Price: $23.95
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 0316191205
Publisher: Little Brown & Company (08 June, 1998)
Sales Rank: 199,298
Average Customer Rating: 2.57 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 4 out of 5
Prince Charming Ain't Coming to the Rescue
This book combines thoughtful insight into the emotional, behavorial and psychological reasons many women get into deep debt and fail to plan financially for retirement. There is no doubt that both men and women get into deep debt. Dowling suggests that women are more prone to lose control of their financial well-being because of gender scripting we get from a very early age. The challenge of the book is to see through this gender scripting, decide how it may be affecting your financial decisions and then take charge of your financial life. I loved it!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Lots to think about here
Yes, there is a lot of personal information in the book and more repetition than necessary, but I also found lots to think about, and many good questions. Dowling doesn't present all the answers, but with this topic we need to find our own anyway. I think Dowling does a good job of presenting theory and research on why women have difficulty taking control of their finances. Everyone's story is different, but if you pay attention you will find research, stories and questions that should further your own exploration of issues you may have around money. I am very picky about what I read and I consider the time I spent reading this book time well spent.
Rating: 1 out of 5
save your money; don't buy this book
I'd be better with money if I avoided buying books like this one. The author's recounting of her money trouble is interesting, but drawn out much too long. And too much time is spent praising Jerrold Mundis; I thought references to "Jerry" were cutesy and inappropriate. If you like your authors to rely on anecdotal evidence, generalize from their own experience to the universe, and write with the level of sophistication encountered in women's magazines, you'll love this book. If you want more than this, avoid it. It would have benefitted from a better editor.
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